We have 4 Samaritan’s Purse newbies with us this week in South Carolina. Yesterday morning they sat through their 30 minute safety & information meeting, received their orange shirts, and set out into the world as part of Samaritan’s Purse. All the orange shirt really mean is that the person wearing them has said “yes” to serving Jesus through this organization and has been through the safety training video & presentation. None of us have any special skills or special calling. We learn things as we are serving. We learn how to hang drywall or lay floors as we go. On every deployment we learn new things & better ways to do some things we already knew how to do.

People in the communities we are serving think we are something special. Especially in the disaster response, they refer to us wearing the orange shirts as “your group” and “you all”. I constantly find myself telling people that there’s nothing special about me. The only difference between me and those those without the orange shirts is that I simply said yes and put on this orange shirt that makes me a part of this awesome team. Everyone and anyone is welcome to receive an orange shirt and be part of Samaritan’s Purse as volunteers. They just have to say yes. And there is no cost to the wearer. SP trips are free (after you get there).

It’s a parable about being a Christian. All it takes is to say yes to Jesus… Yes, I believe You are the Son of God…. Yes, I believe You died on the cross for my sins… Yes, I believe You rose from the dead…. Yes, I’m sorry and I want to be forgiven… And BOOM… You’re in! You’ve not been vetted and found worthy. The truth is, there’s nothing special about you. You just said yes to the offer of salvation. And then you begin to receive your training. And while the world may see you as something you’re supposed to be and even someone you know you’re not, you know the truth. Saying yes made you part of the team and you are being trained, learning as you go.